The loss of Mendy was huge, if Delph was not such a fine replacement until he also got injured and lost his starting spot we would be fucked. That is something we should not overlook. Delph was a very very good bandage for the position but still a bandage.
Our recent wasteful nature as soon as we see their 18yrd box needs to be looked at hard. Early in the season we were as dynamic there as we were in the middle, that is not an observation but essentially tangible as fact. I suggest a lack of conviction set in and real belief, this has resulted in conscious or otherwise attitude to keep an eye on the back in a traditional sense (lose trust in the squad shapes ability to stop an attack via hunting as a pack and recovering). However this is just a thought that has crept in to a few players heads resulting in desperately fractured passages of play at the back from us when we are reacting to a sudden change from having the ball.
We have no real nouse how to transition fast into a solid defensive unit and it is costing us. Essentially this comes down to bottle, it was great when it was great, what about when it is not? Here we have crumbled this season imo, i won't lie, i think we have more about us than we have shown recently. This needs work on the training pitch. Stones needs to be brought back in as kept there even if he is dodgy.
One thing particularly, on the coach to anfield, the entire fucking coach was silent mumbling about scousers, where the fuck was one of us taking the piss loudly out of it or something. I can't hold that in, this pissed me off, where the fuck was Pep or Kompany piping up, that is exactly when you need a leader to stand up, literally in this case on the coach isle and pull the lads away from being quiet as fuck and subdued? I really feel for a young squad the older squad members abandoned them then and it has pissed me off. You have all seen the video and tell me you can't feel the atmosphere on the coach is terrible, they are all in their shells. It would have taken a joker to get up and show his arse to change the mood from somber as fuck to one where endorphins start to get released again. Call it a lack of character if you must.
Do not get me wrong i could rant on about the reffing all day, it has been diabolical, it really has. However i have to look to us, we are such a fantastic team that to lay blame elsewhere feels like a cop out if i am honest.
Pep's messing with putting Gundo in a match where we know he was going to be under serious pressure was poor. I think seeing Bernardo today proves that. A few things really but my over riding thought is the season is a let down now. That may seem spoiled and it possibly is, however from the heights we were at and our expectations it would be a bit rich to ridicule another fan for being a bit gutted. We are only human, most of us had a good idea the title was stitched up in November. So we then upped our target to get it done as early as possible with utd at home the emerging aim to win the title. We failed at that so naturally many feel deflated. Add that to Pep frustrating us by admitting we are the perfect team for Liverpool to play and not doing much to fix it in the away leg then recently it all adds up to disappointment.
I am still content in way that we are a top team and will be winning a lot over the coming years it grates when you run the perfect race only to stumble a bit at the end. The players need to buck up in the final third or get training at it. Pep i understand trains it up to that point then leaves it to the players. This may be starting to show as a bad thing.
I may have been harsh here but we are that good, we should be held to standards above other teams.
